This news story makes me so angry that we can let this happen! This disaster was inevitable to happen and Stelmach's "full investigation" isn't enough for me. The deeper problem for me is that what do they expect to do about these tailings ponds that grow daily. How long can we continue to stuff the earth with toxic waste?

Work and Play

Sorry folks but I've been busy working, doing my taxes (then db re-doing my taxes. He almost enjoys doing taxes) and running. The race is this Sunday and I can't wait. My evenings seem to fly by with just enough time to play with cats, get in a run if I need to, have dinner, and check on the garden.

db is focused on the play-offs (hockey of course) since he's in another pool and presently sitting in first place. Me? I'm not so interested. I'm the opposite of the fan that gets into hockey at play-off time; I only watch the regular season and am interested in the play-offs if the Blues are in it.

I have been enjoying Newcastle's vast improvement in their season. They're just below midway in the table and I'm more than happy with that because not long ago I started to fear that they would face relegation to the second division. They are exciting to watch again. I think next year could be a very interesting season (I guess we're not getting rid of Setanta yet, db).

I've rented four seasons of the Trailer Park Boys that I've been watching mostly when db is not around since he's not a fan. I missed the series the first time around because initially I found it annoying to watch these guys acting like people I knew growing up. Now I find it hilarious because these guys act like people I knew growing up.

Training has been going well. I feel ready to run this Sunday at 7 a.m.! I don't think I've ever run at such an early time (except for maybe the same race last year). I also feel like this is the beginning of the season for me. Already I'm pretty sure I want to run the Trail River Run again because it is such a cool race being small and so close to home, and it is such a beautiful route. I would like to do another marathon in the fall. What a great way to end the season, no? Victoria has a nice looking race and are offering a very slick looking New Balance shirt for those who register and, as one person said in Spirit of the Marathon , "I run it for the t-shirt."

Anywho...the time is ticking and I'm about to have dinner...

Spirit of the Marathon

Always searching for athletic inspiration, an email from the Running Room announced the one evening only screening of the Spirit of the Marathon. db and I went and I did find inspiration from it.

The film gives a brief historical overview of the marathon and its origins, how it has changed over the years, and the runners who stand out in the history of the marathon. Interspersed with this historical context are interviews with runners past and present and of all levels, from the novice to the champion, each telling her or his story of why they run and what they hope to achieve. The race central to the film is the Chicago marathon so we the audience also have a goal in watching each person set out on their run with the goal of finishing that race.

The stories move the documentary forward and do capture what it is like to train, face injury, overcome obstacles and the excitement of race day. Being a runner I connected to the film and understood the determination of each person. I’m not sure this film would hold everyone’s attention for its full length and I did find that it may have lost its thread somewhere in the middle, but overall it was a worthwhile film to watch.

Personally, I find it very moving to watch people achieve such goals that require physical and mental strength to push through to the end. There is something very unique about that experience. Even when I watch the Boston Marathon or any running event, I feel so moved watching the runners break through that finish line because at that moment in her or his life it is only about that moment and all the hard work that went into reaching that goal can be seen in their facial expression or some sign of relief at the finish line.

Anniversary

It was our anniversary this past Saturday, our ninth anniversary to be exact. Rather than sitting around or running errands (hey I didn't book the day off to do chores), I thought we should take advantage of having a vehicle (db had the work van) and go somewhere we've always wanted to go in the city.
Wherever I go I always seem to find a glorious garden that amazes me. This was just a small section near the parking lot at UBC. Heather filled the slopes all around.
Several trails lead down to Wreck Beach.
The cool weather wasn't exactly beach inviting for most; there were few people around, a couple of guys in a lean-to shelter, two photo-snapping tourists, and a nude sunbather in true Wreck Beach fashion. The sign leading down the trail has rules of the beach as in no liquor, dogs on leashes and then there's another sign that says "clothing optional." It's the only beach of its kind in Canada as far as I know.

Even though the weather was a bit nippy, with the sun shining it felt glorious. Anywho I love the beach in all weather; I always feel like I'm at home. I grew up in a coastal climate and there's something very comforting to me about the sound of waves. It goes deeper than just their rhythmic pace; I feel safe, grounded and completely certain of everything around me.
It's hard to believe this is part of the city.

***

The real reason for our trip to UBC was to go here:As a teaching museum there is an extensive collection of First Nations' objects from all over BC.
The Bentwood Boxes in the above photo are made from a single piece of cedar that are joined (sewn) on one corner, the other three corners thus being formed by steaming the wood and bending it.
The visible storage is accessible through the many, many drawers around the exhibit space. The collection is extensive and covers a wider range of cultural objects. Now I can't remember who did the beautiful bead work. I'll have to go back.
The exterior recreates a 19th century Haida village.



The two pieces above were carved by Bill Reid. One of the centerpieces of the museum is a Bill Reid sculpture "The Raven and the First Men" that depicts the Haida myth of the Raven discovering humans and releasing them from a shell onto the beach. (Incidentally, this image is also on our $20 bill along with a few other images from Bill Reid's collection).

We'll have to go back. We didn't even get to the ceramics room and there is so much in the visible storage and new pieces that will be added as the restoration continues.

We concluded our day at home with homemade potato gnocchi (gluten free) and a fabulous 1999 Bandol. 1999 was the year we were married so it was definitely ready for tasting. For dessert I made a chocolate cherry mousse pie. Sorry I have no photos of that. I got the mousse recipe from fat free vegan (definitely not one of the fat free recipes) and I made a raw crust I pulled from an issue of veg news. It all came together very nicely for a day that hadn't been planned at all.

these are a few of my favorite things

Wandering Coyote tagged me for this meme that is about websites I visit and why. After reading Wandering's list I think I'll have few more places to visit now.

Mostly I visit blogs. The most visited are on my sidebar so you can visit them yourself. I am completely fascinated by the blogging world and being able to see the amount of creativity in the world.

My other most visited websites are related to my activities.

1. Running. I am a regular at active.com. Okay, mostly I'm there because of my running blog and to read other active blogs, but I also use the training log to record all of the active living I do whether it be running or yoga or gardening (yes, I see this as exercise. Have you ever turned soil or pruned a hedge? It's a workout). Related is the Running Room site where I also use the training log, search for upcoming events and register for most of my races.

2. Knitting. Need I say it? Knitty.com! This is a great source of information and fun about knitty with free patterns that are for every level. They're fun (check out the pattern for the Womb, yes you heard me) and funky (how about a Hot Tamale?) and I one day hope to be so talented as to be able to submit a pattern to knitty.com.

3. Job search. This is a more recent and ongoing activity for me. I've been frequenting the alliance for arts site for a while now searching for that perfect arts job. I haven't found anything yet (or I should say no one has hired me yet), but there may be a breakthrough. I also like the links on this page for what's going on in the arts regionally and nationally. It's a good source of info.

4. Gardening. The UBC botanical garden site is where I go for my botany photo of the day. I'm not here as much, but the photos come to my dashboard daily so I have the option of reading on or not. I also go here to find out about what events are coming up.

5. News. I'm a bit of a news junkie. I start my day with cbc radio and if I'm home for the day it will be on most of the day (I can't listen to Sounds like Canada. I just can't). If I remember to and I'm home I'll watch Politics with Don Newman. It's on so much earlier in BC! My evenings do not feel complete unless I've watched the National (I never watch Rex Murphy though. I just can't do that either). So it's no surprise that CBC news headlines are front and center on my home page so I can quickly click to a story I want to read. Did I really need to link the cbc site for you?

Yup that's my extremely exciting life in a nutshell.
Now I'm going to go ponder the possibility of Don Newman, Barret Jackman and Grover somehow being related.

new post

There's a new post at my Run Vegan Run blog. You can click on the link in my sidebar or if you can't venture your mouse all the way there, click here.

Uh-oh

I just registered for the half marathon in Van city. I just realized the race is a week earlier than I thought. Oops. I have no idea how that happened. It's probably because I registered so so late and took it all to casually. I also just realized that my training schedule is two weeks off now, not one, and I have to do some tweaking.

What to do? Well, like the Hitchhikers Guide says, "Don't Panic." I guess I'll go out for a run and think about this some more.

Let the gardening begin

Saturday was garden nursery day. tp from work and I have been planning this since February. We booked off the same day together and planned which nurseries we should visit, most of which are located in Langley.
Langley is not far from whoville but the landscape is very different. It's more a rolling countryside with small lots of farmland off a grid of narrow streets and avenues.
As it turned out Saturday was the most beautiful weather we've had this year. The temperature went into the twenties and it was sunny all day long.
tp picked me up at 8 and we drove out to the only nursery open that early. Rain Forest Nursery has six greenhouses and a narrow property with several levels that are all filled with every plant imaginable. The owner told us the season is so late this year that the front exterior garden wasn't really set up as it should be. However, I thought it was fabulous to see all the plants coming along at different stages. When tp mentioned where we worked and that she had seen them at last years garden show, they kindly gave us a "show discount." This is where I bought the Black Beauty Lenten Rose pictured in above two photos). This may be my new favorite flower.
After spending two hours there we finally loaded up tp's car and headed to our next stop. On the way I say a sign that read "Heirloom Tomatoes 75 cents."
Twin Oaks Herb Gardens was this fantastic little place with two small greenhouses run by a woman with great enthusiasm for carnivorous plants. I may have to go back and get one because these plants were so unusual looking and to have a plant that captures fruit flies seems like the way to go. Anywho her selection of heirloom tomatoes were varied and chosen to be most suited for our climate with many originating from Eastern Europe and Russia. I chose six for us to try.
She also carried a variety of scented geraniums and of course a nice selection of herbs. I chose a few perennials from her and got a great deal on the Beauty Bush (below). The photo doesn't really do it justice because you can really see the small buds of purple flowers that will soon open to a shade of pink (I 'm guessing since this is the most common). I'll have to find a location that will let it grow and grow. I suspect it could get quite large. We stopped off at tp's parents' house for a quick snack and to view tp's mother's garden that it a great collection of sedums planted in shallow pots and some in tall narrow pots. Her garden is all containers since they have little garden space, but a wonderful patio that faces a duck pond. Not far from their house is Cedar Rim Nursery which is a large well established business. We never even made it into their greenhouses and just walked the grounds picking up a few more perennials.

We had to watch our time because most places close at five and we had to drive to Abbotsford for our last stop at Tanglebank.
The day was very warm by now and the car was very full of plants. It looked beautiful.
Tanglebank is located in a more hilly area of the fraser valley. This is where I found the Japanese Rosy Buckler Fern.

By this time of the day though I was starting to fade. I was losing my enthusiasm. We headed back to whoville with just one more little stop in Port Who-dy at my favorite local garden shop that is tiny but carries an incredible variety. We just browsed. The car was full and we were running on empty.

Back home we unloaded the plants. tp stayed for dinner and another friend from work came by. db and I had made ravioli the day before. So we had a great dinner, talked plants, gardens and of course about other things as well. It was a great end to the day.

I hope to make it an annual event. Or would that be a perennial event?

plants in photos with the botanical names when I know them. (Corydalis, Helleborus Lenten Rose, Ranunculus ficaria "Brazen Hussy", Japanese Rosy Buckler Fern, Beauty Bush, Fritillaria, Aquilegia vulgaris, Dodecatheon pulchellum "Shooting Star")

A review! The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness and Greed

When I first arrived in B.C. my sister had just moved to Haida Gwaii (the Queen Charlotte Islands). A mysterious place to me, a remote island that I hoped to visit one day, I became further curious when my co-workers started to tell me about what a beautiful jewel of an island it is. Standing out for its uniqueness in marine life, a strong Haida culture and its remoteness, I knew that Haida Gwaii was like nowhere else.

The book The Golden Spruce came up in conversations and people kept telling me I had to read it. Finally, a year after moving here I finally got a chance to pick up John Valliant’s book and soon realized that I would have trouble putting it down. Most of my reading is accomplished on transit and when I opened The Golden Spruce and read Valliant’s opening few pages, I knew through the care he took in describing the Northwest coast that I wanted to savor every word.

Valliant introduces the Northwest coast by describing the landscape this way: “there is no graceful interval between the ocean and the trees; the forest simply takes over where the tide wrack ends, erupting full-blown from the shallow, bouldered earth. The boundary between the two is unstable, and the sea will heave stones, logs, and even itself into the woods at every opportunity.” He then continues, “A coastal forest can be an awesome place to behold; huge, holy, and eternal feeling, like a branched and needled Notre Dame, but for a stranger it is not a particularly comfortable place to be. You can be twenty paces from a road or a beach and become totally disoriented once inside, there is no future and no past, only the sodden, twilit now.”

I closed the book until I could get home and have fewer distractions to take me away from it. Once immersed in the story, the legends and the history, I was able to transit with this book again and enjoyed every moment the bus was slowed by rush hour traffic.

The drama itself could not have been better scripted. Valliant gives us the character of the young logger, Grant Hadwin, who has either gone mad or has turned activist, that cuts this symbolic tree in an act of protest against the clearcutting of the Northwest forests. The Golden Spruce was a 300 year old Sitka spruce that grew 16 stories high and more than twenty feet around that was so unique in its golden colour that it was protected from logging and held legendary significance to the Haida people. When Grant Hadwin cut the tree it changed the landscape of the people and the place forever.He had no understanding of the spiritual significance of the tree to the Haida people who believe that if the tree died so would the Haida nation.

Valliant tells this dramatic story in a way that often balances between the mythic and the real and like the landscape the “boundary between the two is unstable.” While the story is about the tree and the man who cut it down, Valliant puts this seemingly simple narrative into a greater context, depicting the history of Haida Gwaii, the Haida people, and BC’s logging industry. Without this greater context the full significance of the event, the death of this tree, cannot be fully understood. The result is, we are left with a deeper knowledge of a place, a people, and the significance of this one Sitka spruce to all those involved in the drama.

What I most enjoyed was Valliant’s ability to weave all points of view together to give us a whole picture of this event so that we understand the full drama of it and remain with questions. I leave the book with a greater understanding of BC history that is as complex and as many layered as an old growth forest.

500 for Tkachuk!

The Blues played their last game yesterday. It was supposed to be on NHL Centre Ice as was listed on the on-screen guide. At noon db had the t.v. on and the screen stayed black. And so it continued. I'm not sure why they chose not to broadcast the game. I guess they figure no one cares since neither team will be in the play offs. If they do think that way that's stupid.

Anywho...we listened to the game on the computer. The Blues were winning. Not only did we want to see their final game, but there was a good chance that Keith Tkachuk (a.k.a Walt) would score his 500th NHL career goal and we did not want to miss that. It didn't sound like it was going to happen, but with just over a minute left in the game Walt scored into the empty net while they were killing off a penalty. It was very exciting even if we were only listening to it.

Today db sent me an article from the St. Louis Today paper. Here's where Walt stands in the record books:
"Tkachuk became the 41st player in NHL history and only the fourth American-born player to score 500 goals. He is the third player to do it in a Blues uniform, following the lead of Brett Hull and Dale Hawerchuk." (from J. Rutherford at stltoday.com)

Congratulations Tkachuk! I'm glad they ended the season on a high note (pun intended, db).

cats

As if you couldn’t tell, I adore my cats. My cats are a big part of my life. I can’t imagine life without them. But it’s not just my cats it’s cats in general. Just today I was running late for an appointment and hurried out the door, coming up the walk was a fluffy ginger kitty with his/her tail up to greet me. This cat walked right up to me and I had to stop to pet him or her. S/he had a blue collar and bell on and was very friendly. I wanted to spend more time but I was running even later and had to run to catch the bus.

I haven’t seen my sister’s cats in over a year and I miss them so much. Sis sends me pictures and when we talk we can go on for an indefinite amount of time about our cats.

Ever since I can remember there has always been a cat living with me. There was a brief time when I was a teen that we didn’t have a cat because they initially didn’t come with us in the parental divorce. Later my mom did go back for the cats and they lived the rest of their lives with my mom. Even in that time though there was my grandmother’s cat Victoria. She was a small gray tabby with a gentle manner and a bit aloof when it came to attention. She had a large yard that she spent much time surveying and at night she would only sleep on my grandmother’s bed.

After high school I moved out on my own and it wasn’t long before I rescued a kitten from a dodgy home. Not that it was a scary place, but I think the kitten might have gotten ignored or possibly lost or some other scenario that wouldn’t end well for the kitten. The mom, who was sort of a friend and someone I babysat for, was going to take the kitten to the SPCA because she didn’t want it. Her son showed up at my apartment one day and asked me if I could take the kitten because he couldn’t bear to not know where it would end up. I probably wasn’t ready for the responsibility of a cat but I did it anyway. When I think about it now it’s amazing to think of that kid walking all the way to my place with a frightened kitten in his arms. Catherine I named her and she lived with me for sixteen years in four different provinces. She was quite the character and we had quite a bond.

As I write this Prima is seated next to the computer screen with one paw resting on the edge of the keyboard. She is fascinated with the small movements of the cursor as it slides across the page. I think she would like nothing better than to lie on the computer because of the warmth it gives off, but she knows I stop her when she attempts to walk or lie on the keyboard and so she sits with one paw perched on the edge. Eventually she will walk on the keyboard causing it to delete, lock the caps, add spaces and repeat the same letter over and over again. And I’ll just have to gently guide her to the desk and do some more editing.

Gigi makes a trip into the fridge to do some inspecting of db's sourdough starter.

A rare sighting of these two on the same window ledge at the same time. It's a great spot because we get all kinds of little birds and squirrels around that tree.

snow, wheat and the seven days of the week

Sunday there was pasta and all its gluteny goodness.
Monday there were soba noodles with wheat in them and pasta at lunch.
Tuesday. Hmm. I thought I should retest wheat. So I did on Tuesday and Wednesday and without going into the details of my digestive system I can tell you that something was up. I suspected wheat sensitivity. All that time I though it was soy and I am completely fine eating soy now. I guess this proves that self-diagnosis is not a good thing.

Thursday I briefly saw my ND and she confirmed what I suspected. Wheat cannot be a close friend anymore. I'll keep it as an acquaintance, but we won't be hanging out on a daily basis.

Thursday night I went out with some friends to a pub where I could eat one thing on the menu. Guesses? Yes, the veggie burger. I flashbacked to my days living in Victoria when we'd go out after work to the pub and I'd order the veggie burger because it was all I could eat. That night though not only was I the only one sipping Perrier at the table, but I was faced with the veggie burger on an enriched wheat bun. Way to start my new non-wheaty days. Not a big deal really. I had a good time and the fries were really good and the pub is in a fantastic location. It's right where the Pitt River meets the Fraser and the view is incredible. I hope we go back there again in the warm weather just to sit out on the patio and watch the rivers. I'm told you can sometimes see seals come up river this far.

Friday I was in the process of reintroducing corn so db made burritos and I made more of the Mexican Millet from Veganomicon (honestly I'm not getting paid for mentioning this book as much as I am).

Saturday night db and I made pizza together. I made a rice flour based crust while he made his regular wheat crust. It was fun making our own pizzas together. We prepped everything just before 8 pm and then we powered everything down and lit a couple of candles to join in on Earth Hour. That cats were a little confused with the darkness and thought maybe they should start settling in for the night. Just after 9 pm we left the candles going and just put enough light on in the kitchen to assemble our pizzas and bake them. It was delicious.

This morning I made pancakes from what else? Veganomicon! I made the Blueberry Corn pancakes and substituted all-purpose flour with Buckwheat flour. Despite its name buckwheat is not wheat; there is no gluten in it. Buckwheat does seem to make pancakes quite fluffy so these puffed up very nicely and we had mixed berries in them.

I'm also reintroducing sugar into my diet today to see if I react to it. So it's the first time I've had maple syrup in a while. There was very little affect really.


db thought it'd be a good idea to show how he stacks his pancakes and how well these puppies actually stack.

Finally, here's a little footage of what I woke up to Friday morning when I was contemplating going out for run. It only lasted about an hour, but it was a shocker nonetheless. Incidentally, I did go out for my run.

The bottom video was trying to show the tulips close-up being beaten down by the snow, but the tulips are doing fine and the snow didn't last long.

I'm waiting.

I did recently catch a news story about Subaru introducing its electric vehicle (EV) in New York city for test drive. There's also a story here where I read a little more about it's testing in North America. It's getting closer right? The EV is coming?

With the recent news about the iceberg breaking away from an Antarctic ice shelf, I just hope that it's not too little too late.

Who Killed the Electric Car Again?

This morning I hear on the news that the locally made Dynasty Electric car company has sold its manufacturing and design to a company in Pakistan that will build the cars there and then import them back into the US. The full story can be read here. The reason for the move? Government regulations that will not permit these vehicles to operate at speeds higher than 40 km/h so they can run on highways.

It's one of my dreams to drive my very own electric car (or solar powered of course) and my government is making my dream more difficult than it should be. I'm making notes on who killed the electric car and who's taking action on climate change.

rootin' for the gluten

New to the diet this week are soy and wheat. These are the "big" foods for me. These are the foods that are part of my everyday diet that were a big change for me when I started the elimination diet to find out if I have food allergies.

When I sought out another margarine other than Earth Balance since E.B. contains soy I couldn’t find one. Every other margarine I checked contained whey or gelatin or milk solids. Yuck. Oh and now I know why “I can’t believe it’s not butter” can call itself that, it’s because one of the first ingredients is buttermilk! Okay so big deal I give up margarine. It’s been a week and now I don’t even care if I eat it ever again and this is coming from the person who was an Earth Balance junkie. Score one for the diet (actually two since I’m now off the bean as well).

Friday I introduced soy back into the diet with some soymilk in my Vega smoothie. I don’t usually drink soymilk ever, but having shopped for the detox we were a little low on soy supplies and I needed to put it back in my diet somehow. db drinks soy every day so we had the milk on hand. For dinner I added a little cubed tofu and spinach together for a quick sauté on the side with my root veg soup (db was sick so we had to pass on the planned stir fry and I made some soup for us instead). So far there’s been zero reaction. Saturday was the same.

Sunday was wheat day.

Wheat didn’t worry me too much even with my lack of enthusiasm when I quickly tired of starting my day with rice cakes, almond butter and hemp seeds. Time for oatmeal goodness and…uh oh…no maple syrup. Okay plain oatmeal and fresh berries works with a little rice milk (by the way check the rice or almond milk ingredients for soy. I should probably make my own like my sis does but…I’m not there yet). That worked quite well actually.

With no bread in the house (db was too sick to bake and didn’t bother last week since I wasn’t eating bread anyhow) I made muffins for breakfast and ate several while watching the St. Louis Chicago game. They were fairly small muffins and St. Louis lost in overtime.

Sunday night pasta would be my next wheat meal. Rice pasta is yummy. I’m enjoying it, but db isn’t as keen and is “rootin’ for the gluten.” I made the good ol’ durum semolina in a simple tomato sauce. db had seconds. He felt much better today.

I feel fine. I did notice a little heavier feeling after my meal, but no adverse effects so far.

Next I think I will get to the corn. I still haven’t gone back to sugar and I think that one might be the key.

I’ve got 19 days to go.

Happy Anniversary Prima

The 21st was the fifth anniversary of Prima joining the family. Five years ago we decided to adopt her from Abbey Cats and drove up to Richmond Hill to visit her at her foster home. She was very affectionate and came right up to us. She had a little red collar with a tiny bell on it so the other cat in the foster home could hear her coming. It wasn't a hard decision (it never is) and she came home to whoville with us.
When we opened the carrier she ran under the couch where she stayed for several hours. I worried that she might never come out, but she eventually did and was so affectionate and has remained the same since. Well to be honest she took over the house really. Someone has to be queen, right?

Lhasa - Tibet

So what will the vegan eat now?

So today is Day 4 of my diet. I start reintroducing the forbidden foods on Friday when I can eat one type of food two times a day for two days and record how my body reacts. By then I should be over the caffeine withdrawal and will be able to tell how my body reacts. At first I thought coffee would be the first thing I’d want back, but now that I’ve weaned myself off it I don’t think I can go back. I’ll go back to decaf eventually but I think caffeine is something I should do without. If you read about my days below you’ll understand why I’ve come to this decision.

Shopping has been relatively easy since I have pretty specific foods I'm craving that I know I can eat (avocados, rice crackers, hummus). db and I shopped on Sunday and spent even more time reading labels than usual and once again I was reminded how prevalent corn and soy are in our diets. Fortunately I don't have much of a sweet tooth so I'm not really craving or missing sugar at all. The fruit I eat is sweet enough.

How spoiled we are in North America to have so many choices. Really we have limitless choices of foods and this just amazes me even more when people still ask me "what do you eat?" when they find out I'm vegan. It's astounding the number of bad foods that are on grocery shelves that are so much a part of the industrial food production. I can find any variety of chips, frozen dinners, colas or sugary cereals, but I don't want those I just want to get more than one or two choices of apples when I know there are probably 15 or more varieties grown in BC alone.

As for reintroducing the food, I think I’ll start with corn since I suspect that will be fine and I can get back to snacking on tortilla chips and making enchiladas.

So this is how my diet went so far:


Day 1

I want my f***ing coffee!!!

Gone is my morning ritual of turning aromatic beans into a fine grind and measuring it into the espresso machine handle that automatically applies the perfect pressure to produce just the right crema atop my shot of espresso. Instead I made herbal tea that turned out to be a bit too ginger strong for me. The rice cakes with almond butter, hemp seeds and sliced banana were delicious. I started my supplements as prescribed by my ND and was feeling okay.

Two hours later the headache started and I knew I was well into caffeine withdrawal. I thought I’d go out for my 11 k run anyway and would probably feel fine once I got going. Wrong! I’ve never felt worse running. Chugging along I felt like someone was pulling me back and I was fighting the resistance. My legs ached and I felt like I had no strength in my hamstrings to get me up any slight slope. Usually I look forward to the hills, but the hills became impossible. I turned back and ran and walked home. Not a stellar performance.

I was worried about the evening because I was meeting Wandering Coyote and Red Jane for dinner. Even though we were going to a vegetarian restaurant I knew that I’d have to let go of the rules of the diet. That was fine. I can live with that. I tried to find solace in my steamed brown rice. The food was good and it was great to see both WC and RJ, but I was in my caffeine withdrawal fog and didn’t feel fully present (sorry WC and RJ). I think my energy was pretty low, which is part of Adrenal Fatigue and then being sans caffeine on top of it pretty much put me in the fog.

The upside? I slept a deep sleep. I had one of the best nights sleep I’ve had in a long time.

Day 2 (really Day 1 of the diet because of Day 1’s dinner)

Still no coffee??? And I have to go to work?

Again I felt fine for the first couple of hours in the morning, but the headache returned. It wasn’t as severe as Day 1 but it was still there and again I felt like I was walking in a fog, not fully present. Granted I can feel that way at work on the best of days, but Day 2 on Saturday was a fog with time standing still. I finally broke down and took advil that contains caffeine, but it took the edge off. I still had a headache, but at least it was quieter.

My commute home seemed endless and I’ve never been happier to arrive home (okay there was the time I had to spend the night in the woods and that may have been the one time I was happier to be home).

db made an amazing pizza with a rice crust. It was heaven.

Again I slept soundly.

Day 3

Latte time?

We discovered that db could not make me the tea latte because almond milk contains soy lecithin.

It’s true I’m an addict in withdrawal and am feeling so messed up without my daily shot of espresso I don’t know how long I’ll have enough energy to do anything.

I accepted the fact that there would be no latte and watched db delight in one of his peaked perfections of creamy soy latte excellence. That was satisfying enough. I did make us a nice brunch with home fried potatoes to go with my almond buttered rice cakes and hemp seeds. I watched db load up the earth balance and realized I didn’t miss wheat I missed the stuff I put on it, the earth balance buttery spread, the vegenaise and all that good stuff.


Of course I love db’s bread and it’s delicious, but I’m okay without it.

Still feeling foggy and as the day went on I tired out quickly. I spent some time at a friends place learning how to turn a pen (making a pen out of a wood blank using a lathe). Unfortunately the wood I chose was a bit prone to chipping out and that’s what it did. The first time I was able to salvage it, but the second time I realized that it was over and I’d have to start over, but next week since I already spent a couple of hours on this one pen. It doesn’t usually take so long, but I was learning and we did have to try and fix my initial chipping before going on. Anywho…I enjoyed using the lathe and turning a piece of wood.

db made rice pasta that was very good. It breaks down a little easier so db missed being able to twirl his durum semolina spaghetti around his fork. I think the rice pasta would work better in a short pasta like a penne or a fusilli.

The Elimination Diet Challenge

So I saw the ND today. She was great and we sorted through my various health issues and I've started on a new plan to improve my health. She went over my blood test results with me and suggested  that I do have a type of anemia. My iron is low as is my B12. Now my "traditional" doctor didn't see a problem with the iron and B12 levels, but the ND suggested that the prescribed guidelines for high and low levels is not a set rate. In other words, if I'm on the lower level as far as she's concerned it's too low and needs to be dealt with. Another area that she brought my attention to was my red blood cells (is this getting too personal? Maybe, but so-be-it.). From what I understood my red blood cell size is larger than normal. So the dizziness or lightheadedness I've been experiencing is most likely a symptom of anemia. There are several other indicative symptoms but there's no need to go into my whole history with everyone here. 

Finally I feel like I'm getting to the root of the problem and can now treat it. It's such a great feeling. For once I left a doctor's office feeling better. I didn't get to leave without a B12 shot. Waaahhh! I hate needles. I mean I really really hate needles. I stop breathing when I see a needle (not a sewing needle thank goodness or a knitting needle). Anywho...I had the stupid shot in my hip and now it's a bit sore. I'll be stopping back once a week for a bit for a regular B12 shot. I asked her about the B12 patch, but she hadn't heard about it. I'm not even sure if it's in Canada yet. She thought it was a good idea but really felt the shot was the best option for immediate treatment. So I'll just have to deal with that.

I've got some new supplements and one of the things we discussed was having an allergy test. However, when I learned that the blood test she does cost 300 dollars I opted for the elimination diet as a way to test for allergies. I'll do the blood test when I have the extended health care plan (if ever). So...tomorrow I'll start my elimination diet. Being vegan it really isn't a huge change for me since many of my foods are on the "foods to include" list. The big one will be removing wheat from my diet since I eat bread 82 times a day and we have pasta almost as much. The big hurt will be eliminating caffeine. I can't even fathom what that's going to be like. Well, actually I can since I once went on the McDougall Program that required no caffeine and I became a herbal tea drinker. I remember three days of headaches and crankiness and about a week before I felt "better." db has promised to make me a tea latte with my unsweetened almond milk. He's also ready to research a new gluten free pizza crust so I can still enjoy pizza night. We bought some rice pasta that promises to be "Not Mushy" so that's promising. Between the supplements and the diet I should start to feel more energetic. 

I do have dinner plans tomorrow but eating in a vegan restaurant should make things easier and I decided for this one night out I'm not going to be too concerned with food for one dinner. Being decaffeinated I just hope I can stay awake through dinner. 

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Originally uploaded by sparkegiano